Hand protectors for infants



Jan. 3, 1956 D. MERCUR 2,728,914

HAND PROTECTORS FOR INFANTS Filed Aug. 19, 1953 INVENTOR.

BY M

HAND PROTECTORS FOR INFANTS Dave Mercur, Pittsburgh, Pa.

Application August 19, 1953, Serial No. 375,103

2 Claims. (Cl. 2-16) This invention relates to new and useful improvements in protective devices worn by infants to prevent scratching, and it is among the objects thereof to provide a protective device which shall be soft and pliable and suitably ventilated to prevent sweating.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a protective device having an expansible ring'portion to fit over an infants wrist to eliminate the use of fastening cords or buttons which may be injurious to the wearer.

These and other objects of the invention will become more apparent from a consideration of the accompanying drawing, constituting a part hereof, in which like ref erence characters designate like parts, and in which Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a portion of an infants arm and hand with a protector embodying the principles of this invention;

Fig. 2 is a similar view of a modified form of the protector; and

Fig. 3 is an elevational view of the top of the protector illustrating the manner in which it may be ornamented.

With reference to the several figures of the drawing, the numeral 1 designates a smooth, soft latex rubber or plastic sphere having a rubber or other plastic expansion ring 2 for holding it on the hand of an infant as shown.

Relatively large perforations or openings 3 are provided adjacent the wrist position of the protector for ventilating purposes to eliminate sweating of the hands. In Figure 2 the protector 1 is shown with a plurality of elastic bands 4, 5 and 6 of varying size to reduce it to the size of the wrist and at the same time give it a substantial body portion for retaining the protector on the hand.

I am aware that hand protectors for the hands of infants have been heretofore proposed. Such protectors, however, employ wrist bands or ties and some suggest the use of buttons which are hard substances and would be injurious to an infants body or face when pummeling its face with the hands or protectors. Also such prior art devices are of a hard substance, such as celluloid or even hard rubber, which are in themselves injurious to the infants body or face and perhaps more so than no protector at all.

By means of the present protector made of a smooth, soft latex rubber or plastic, the texture of the protector nited States Patent C 2,728,914 Patented Jan. 3, 1956 is substantially that of the infants skin or flesh and is therefore not annoying to an infant and fully protects it from scratching with nails of the fingers. Because of the pliability of the material of which the protector is made, suitable wrist bands 2, 4, 5 and 6 may be employed to conform and hold it to the wrist of the wearer. By means of the plural band construction of Fig. 2, the protector is thereby reinforced in the region of the bands where it overlaps the hand so that it is not easily displaced and can be loosely mounted on the wrist of the infant.

The rings or wrist bands may be made of more durable and less flexible material than the body of the protector because they are located behind the hand where they are not likely to make contact with the infants face or body.

The design of protector lends itself to ornamentation, such as by imprinting thereon a Mickey Mouse or other indicia symbolizing infants toy or apparel to render the protector more attractive and discernible.

In addition to protecting the infant from scratching, the protector also reduces the habit-forming tendency of inserting the thumb or fingers in the mouth.

Although one embodiment of the invention has been herein illustrated and described, it will be evident to those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made in the details of construction without departing from the principles herein set forth.

I claim:

1. A hand protector for infants comprising a hand portion consisting of a spherical hollow body of smooth, soft, pliable material and a wrist portion attached to and extending from said body as a tubular extension consisting of a plurality of elastic wrist bands of progressively decreasing diametrical size from the connected end of the wrist portion to the free end thereof to stifien the hand portion of the protector and provide a grip at the wrist portion thereof.

2. A hand protector for infants comprising a hand portion consisting of a spherical hollow body of smooth, soft, pliable material and a wrist portion attached to and extending from said body as a tubular extension consisting of a plurality of elastic wrist bands of progressively decreasing diametrical size from the connected end of the wrist portion to the free end thereof to stiffen the hand portion of the protector and provide a grip at the wrist portion thereof, said spherical hollow hand body portion having relatively large annularly spaced perforations adjacent the wrist band of largest diametrical size.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 742,440 Johnson Oct. 27, 1903 782,920 Ouellette Feb. 21, 1905 1,260,865 Bowen Mar. 26, 1918 1,507,707 Morganstern Sept. 9, 1924 1,537,811 Epling May 12, 1925 2,119,499 Spanel May 31, 1938 

